Spyware is software or an object, such as a cookie, that is used to track your behavior and gather information about you. For obvious reasons, I don’t think anyone wants someone else gathering information about them without their permission. Often times, the information about you is only used to determine what kind of ads to show you or how to market to you. In extreme cases, spyware may be used in an attempt to hack your email, financial, or business accounts. Whether the spyware is extreme or not, I am sure you would rather do without it on your PC. Let’s look at a few ways to get rid of spyware.
Ad-Aware
My favorite program to remove spyware is Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. You can download this software from Lavasoft’s site and then you can use it to scan and remove any spyware and adware. I like this particular program for a few reasons. First, it is 100% free for personal use. Second, it is super easy to download, install, and use. Last, Ad-Aware has a great library of spyware definitions. This means that it will do a great job finding and removing any spyware.
Reinstall Windows or Perform a System Restore
I find this to be a pretty extreme reaction in the fight against spyware, however, some people like to reinstall Windows every so often to combat spyware along with any other malware. A clean Windows install also has other benefits as well. If you want to be 100% sure that you remove spyware, reinstalling Windows will surely do it. Like I said earlier, this is a pretty extreme solution and I would only recommend it if you are noticing serious problems such as accounts being hacked or a malicious malware that you just can’t get rid of.
Also, performing a System Restore may help as well. This is assuming that you are restoring your system back to a point before you had picked up the spyware. To do a system restore in Windows, navigate to the control panel using the path Start -> Control Panel. Click the Recovery icon located within the Control Panel and hit the Open System Restore. At this point, just follow the directions to restore to an earlier point. Keep in mind, you may lose some programs you have installed or other Windows settings changes by performing a System Restore.
Other Spyware fighting Software
I know I recommended Ad-Aware above, however, there are a ton of good anti-spyware tools on the market such as MalwareFox. You can always try one of these or even try Ad-Aware along side a different tool as well.
Hopefully at this point you have found a great way to get rid of spyware. If you have another way, please feel free to let us know in the comments! Also, if you liked this tip, feel free to follow us on twitter for more tips!